Answers About Bird Flu
We often hear about bird flu from the media. We know that it is a virus that usually affects birds. This virus is a complex one that it does not affect only birds but humans too. Asian countries are the most common areas where bird flu might develop. Also called avian influenza, bird flu is known to develop 15 subtypes of viruses. The most dangerous virus that proved to be a threat for both birds and humans is H5N1. The virus occurs in most of the cases among birds. Wild birds carry the virus in their intestines but usually do not get sick from it. At risk are the domesticated birds such as chickens, ducks or turkeys. After catching the virus these birds are, in most of the cases, going to die. There are known two forms of influenza viruses that are distinguished by low and high extremes of virulence. The low pathogenic form may go undetected and may cause mild symptoms but the highly pathogenic form spreads more rapidly and affects the internal organs of the birds. In more than 90 % of the cases the highly pathogenic form leads to death in less than 48 [...]
Who is Most Vulnerable to Bird Flu
Right now, the people must vulnerable to bird flu are those who come into close and frequent contact with infected chickens and other poultry. Therefore, the main danger is to rural farmers and chicken sellers in Asia and Africa. Anybody who slaughters chickens, plucks their feathers, eviscerates and cooks chickens. Anybody who sells their raw meat in a market. Anybody who attends a cockfighting match, because fighting cocks spray blood into the air. Their children seem to be most at risk. That’s probably because they play and pet the chickens that run wild in their villages, they play in the dirt that’s infected with chicken droppings and they have undeveloped immune systems. Anybody who eats raw or undercooked chicken or eggs from infected chickens is at risk. That is why Vietnam is discouraging its people from preparing a traditional dish of raw duck blood soup. Right now, this applies to people in rural Asia, Africa and Europe. When H5N1 spreads to North and South America, it could apply also to small farmers who raise chickens the traditional way. Modern chicken factory farming protects chickens from contact with wild fowl and other outside birds, so they’re unlikely to catch bird flu [...]
Why We Cannot Depend on a Vaccine to Save Us From Bird Flu
With current vaccine technology a vaccine cannot save us from a pandemic of contagious bird flu. Although criticized as fearmongering, the ABC made for TV movie First Contact: Bird Flu in America was overly optimistic. Neither us nor the French nor anybody else is going to development and manufacture a vaccine within two months using the technology of the past 50 years. First, work on a highly targeted vaccine against a specific strain of contagious bird flu cannot even begin until that specific strain of bird flu comes into existence. Researchers are working on vaccines against current strains of H5N1, and these may have some effect on curbing a contagious strain, because they’d be similar, but not the same. After getting samples of the contagious form of H5N1, the virus makers begin creating the vaccine from dead viruses. It must be tested for safety and approved for use in humans. This takes time. After the vaccine is ready, doses of it must be produced. Each dose of the vaccine is grown inside one egg. The entire process takes 6 to 8 months to produce ordinary winter flu shots. And we know from 2004 that sometimes batches of vaccine are contaminated, [...]
Bird Flu: H5N1 Influenza Status Briefing Natural Protection
The Bird Flu has a defined area of infection and has found a host that has kept it alive for millenniums. Pigs are in the mutation chain as the virus transitions to people. The next bird flu step could be an overnite pandemic or a wimpering gasp of disappearance. The virus H5N1, has a few similarities with the Spanish flu of 1918 that resulted in one of the largest pandemics in the last 200 years. Both of these contagious outbreaks cause high fever, lower respiratory tract failure symptoms, prostration, myalgias, and a postviral weakness that could last up to 6 weeks. Twenty-four hour access channels have warned of a coming pandemic that may arrive in the form of H5N1 avian influenza, more commonly referred to as ‘bird flu’. The market for poultry products has decreased internationally because of a lack of consumer confidence in a safe supply. In Eastern Asian countries entire flocks of chickens have been destroyed because of an outbreak that easily spreads from bird to bird, infecting the entire flock. Proactive Steps Current laboratory research currently indicates existing flu prescriptions should be an active and readily available treatment should the ‘bird flu’ H5N1 make its presence felt. [...]
Prepare Now for Dangers of the Bird Flu Pandemic Chaos
In a bird flu pandemic, more people might die from other causes than from bird flu itself. And I DON’T mean ‘natural’ causes. Even if you’ve stocked up your home with all the food, water and immune system boosting herbs you’ll need for the next 3 months and you’re all set to sit there and read WAR AND PEACE until the bird flu virus burns itself out — you could still be at great risk. If you really want to live through the bird flu pandemic, you better have a plan to avoid human germs as well as the bird flu virus. On a bird flu discussion forum, someone recently posted this advice — stop tell your neighbors you’re storing food and water for the bird flu pandemic. Stop trying to convince them to do the same thing. Make your preparations in secret. Because when there’s no more food at the grocery store, and their kids are hungry, they’re going to remember that you’ve stored food — and they’re going to come knocking at your door. Truly sad words, but obviously have a truth to them. You definately must think just as hard about the nature of your neighbors as [...]
How a Little-Known Science Can Protect You From Bird Flu
You can use a little-known branch of science to help protect yourself and your loved ones from the bird flu pandemic. It’s called evolutionary epidemiology. Basically, it means that microorganisms evolve in ways that encourage the survival and spread of their species. How this works in each human disease, depends on the nature of how the disease spreads. The common cold irritates but does not kill us — so we feel well enough to go to work and sneeze and cough on other people, thus spreading the virus. Malaria is a killer because sick malarial patients allow more mosquitoes to suck up their blood and then infect other people. There’s currently a scientific debate going on about what this means in connection with bird flu. Some scientists say that bird flu will not evolve into a highly contagious killer such as the 1918 virus because there is no World War I going on in Europe. Trench warfare conditions made that flu evolve into a fast killer, because the fast transmission of diseases causes them to evolve into virulent forms. Other scientists say that the A/H5N1 virus could still mutate or re-assort into a highly contagious and highly mortal killer of [...]
Plan Ahead to Avoid the Legal Problems of Bird Flu
Any event that holds the potential of causing millions of deaths obviously holds the potential of causing millions of lawsuits. A bird flu pandemic would be a disaster on every front. If one does happen, it’s likely that the survivors will look for someone to blame — someone to pay out a lot of money. For compensation of the loss of loved ones. To make up for losses of jobs and businesses. That’s the new American way. A bird flu pandemic would likely qualify as a force majeure — an act of God (or the Devil) that nullifies contracts. It’s also possible that post-pandemic courts could determine that, given the enormous amount of publicity given to bird flu in this period, that all responsible people should have prepared for the eventuality of a pandemic. It’s also possible that so many lawyers and judges will succumb to bird flu and so much wealth will have been wiped out that the government will declare some kind of blanket “we all suffered, now let’s just rebuild” amnesty on all bird flu lawsuits. But don’t count on it. It’s better to be prepared. After all — given the enormous amount of media attention given [...]
Bird Flu Outbreaks
Of all the avian influenza viruses that are seen in both humans and birds the subtype H5N1 caused the largest number of infections in humans. This subtype leaded to severe diseases and even death. More than that, it is believed that the registered cases are a small percentage of the real number of people that carry the virus. The registered cases are considered the severe ones while the unregistered and unreported cases are believed to be milder and without complications. The H5N1 virus does not affect humans easily and if one person is infected it is impossible to spread the virus to another one. That is why this infection remains a rare disease in humans. Even so, as we said before, it is the most common infection that is seen in both birds and humans. The most affected regions are Asia, some parts of Europe, the Near East and Africa. More than half of these people that were reported as being infected with H5N1 have died. Most of them were children or young adults and have developed the virus after getting in direct contact with infected poultry or surfaces. Even if some cases prove that the virus spreads [...]
Why Bird Flu is Seen as a Potential Health Risk to Humans
The Avian Flu, also known as the Asian Bird Flu or Influenza A (H5N1), is a zoological viral strain that has crossed the species barrier and is now threatening further mutation and a subsequent world pandemic. Influenza A strains infect only avian and mammal species while influenza B and C strains infect only humans. Most human influenza strains encounter higher levels of immunity among the human population and are less virulent because they have been around for longer periods and world populations have developed necessary immunity. Conversely, Influenza A (H5N1), after undergoing an antigenic shift (crossing the species barrier), presents an entirely new threat because the human population has no previous immunity or resistance to this flu. Strains that have mutated in this way, and become transmittable between humans, have been the cause of every previous flu epidemic or pandemic for the last 300 years. Researchers suggest that a if global pandemic of Influenza A (H5N1) mimicked the pandemic of 1918-1919, the death toll could reach between 150 and 300 million people. Influenza A (H5N1) was discovered in 1996 thru an outbreak in the domestic poultry industry in Hong Kong. During 2003 and 2004 over 100 million birds died of [...]
United States Versus Bird Flu
Avian influenza, or bird flu as it is most commonly known, is a viral disease that has been ravishing Asia, as well as other countries, for more than two years now. Some choose to ignore the threat, but most health experts agree what we see now in the Eastern Hemisphere could be witnessed soon all across the world. Since the first outbreaks of bird flu recorded in late 2003, there have been more than 140 deaths world wide and entire poultry populations decimated. Some estimates claim a flu pandemic (world wide epidemic) could infect hundreds of millions and cause major social disruption. With these worries in mind, the United States have closely followed the situation and with general fears that the disease could spread to their territory as well, federal and local authorities have been handed over a plan to prevent and be ready to deal with a possible avian influenza outbreak in the country. It is not clear if and when this will happen, but one can look to previous experiences and other events for clues as to how serious the threat really is for the American country. Recent violent outbreaks in places such as Indonesia, which is now [...]